Rough day for two dew-sweepers

Did some dew sweeping this morning with Jeremy "Lynch Mob" Lynch at a favorite old haunt, Royal American Links. Our reward for teeing it up at 6:45 was to complete our loop by 10 and then having the rest of day to pursue other interests.

As usual, Oldgolfdawg enjoyed playing the 3 1/2-dog-biscuit-rated course. The greens and fairways were in great shape, but the rough, especially on the normal back nine, had reached extreme levels because of heavy rain the previous two weeks. As a gray membership holder at the course in 2008 and 2009, I can't recall seeing the rough thicker or higher.

The course was hit with so much rain that mowing became problematic in many areas. This week's run of good weather should help return things to normal. Shots hit just barely off the green were tricky today because of the way they settled in the lusher-than-normal fringe. TV analyst Ian-Baker Finch would have described most of the areas surrounding the greens as "juicy."

Despite the rougher-than-normal rough and fringe areas, Jeremy and I had enjoyable rounds spiced with self-inflicted wounds and brief brushes of brilliance. The scoring wasn't great but the simple joy of chasing the pea still made the time well spent. The key to building on a round where the scoring is less than stellar is to remember the good shots and to not dwell too much on the bad ones. After all, the rough was brutal in spots. That's our story and we're sticking to it.